Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainBrownfield’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Brownfield Public Library serves Brownfield’s 1,706 residents. Last year it lent 1,888 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,679 visits.
Brownfield’s library, in brief
Brownfield Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Brownfield Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Brownfield Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Conway Public Library in Conway, next door, is open about 56 hours a week. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Brownfield Public Library offered 8 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Brownfield Public Library serves 1,706 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Runs on less money than most
Brownfield Public Library spends $17 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Brownfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brownfield is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns. Brownfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Brownfield
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Brownfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Brownfield’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Brownfield Public Library serves 1,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,888 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,803 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
603 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brownfield last year.
Find it
Brownfield Public Library, 216 Main Street, Brownfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brownfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brownfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $34K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 451 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brownfield ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway | Conway Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 56 | A |
| Fryeburg | Fryeburg Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 36 | B |
| Denmark | Denmark Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 15 | B |
| Brownfield | Brownfield Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 16 | C+ |
| Hiram | Soldiers Memorial Library fine-free | 0.8 | 19 | B |
| Porter | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Eaton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Brownfield
Does Brownfield have a public library?
Yes. Brownfield Public Library, 216 Main Street, serves Brownfield’s 1,706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brownfield Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Brownfield’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Brownfield’s civic life grade?
C+ Brownfield is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Brownfield.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.